Welcome to 2026's 31 Days of Heistoween, a daily dose of spooky icons, spine-tingling oddities, and — most harrowing of all — memes. Check back every day from now through October 31 for each daily entry!
The '90s were a fantastic decade for trading cards that don't feature pocket-sized monsters, spells, or athletes. Come to think of it, it really was the only true decade of superhero trading card dominance — but man, did Impel, Fleer, Skybox, et al. make the most of it!
Every year, the new Marvel sets would try something a little bit kookier than the previous year. Like, the 1995 Fleer X-Men set featured a subset of cards set at the beach, featuring images of the X-Men in speedos that absolutely stuck in the minds of a subset of fans. For the X-Men's 1996 set (okay, released in "chromium" in 1995 and on regular cardstock in 1996), superstar artists Adam Kubert and Andy Kubert got to illustrate 10 X-Men for a spooky "Haunted Mansion" subset. The result was, well, you'll see!
Here are the 10 Haunted Mansion X-Men trading cards ranked in order of actual spookiness and scariness.
10. Iceman as the Snowman
The least scary of the bunch — until you imagine what this costume would look like now that Iceman is out of the closet and held to the standards of Gay Halloween. A frosty harness and jockstrap would definitely put him higher on this list.
9. Storm as the Witch
Again, this is just Storm showing up to the party in mix and match items from her superhero closet and a Party City witch's hat. Storm's technically not even in costume, as she is literally descended from an ancient line of witch-priestesses. Still, no one is saying anything, because this is Storm. She does no wrong.
8. Gambit as the Cajun Cowboy
We are still in the last-minute-costume section of the list. Gambit put a cowboy hat and Davy Crockett jacket on top of his uniform and showed up ready to — not a surprise — play poker. The scariest thing about this is the lack of self-awareness, the fact that Gambit showed up to a costume party in this as if this isn't just him.
7. Psylocke as the French Maid
Hey, Psylocke's trying. Yes, this is basically just an apron, but minimal effort is still effort! Again, this costume isn't scary; Psylocke ranks higher than Gambit, Storm, and Iceman because mid-'90s Psylocke herself is scarier than Gambit, Storm, and Iceman. This is a woman who has two modes: seductively licking motor oil off of her teammate's face and leaping headfirst into fights, proudly proclaiming that she's an "action junkie." The way she's holding those feather dusters makes me think she's in fight mode.
6. Wolverine as Captain Claw
As with Psylocke, this costume is scary primarily because Wolverine is generally intimidating — I mean, look at those fangs! Also like Psylocke, I don't know, the way he has that shirt draped off his shoulder, he's kinda giving saucy vibes too. Still, is this really a costume? Wolverine wore an eyepatch for years by choice!
5. Cyclops as the King
We are firmly in costume territory now! These X-Men are actually going for it! They remembered that they have a Shi'ar clothing fabricator on-site and they put it to work. Still, Cyclops as Elvis is not truly scary. I'm going to take a stand and say that Cyclops actually could rock a rhinestone jumpsuit. The man is brave! But I also think that any scenario where Cyclops displays any kind of ebullience or bravado is inevitably going to lead to a fair amount of cringe. Like, he is still the boss. Not The Boss. That's next year's costume.
4. Colossus as Count Vampire
Scary Fact #1: Colossus keeps calling this Dracula costume "Count Vampire" no matter how many times he's corrected, to the point where you're wondering if this is a Russian cinema Mandela effect thing. Scary Fact #2: Colossus is canonically a descendant Grigori Rasputin, the real Russian mystic who (according to lore) refused to die! So, vampire ... ? Scary Fact #3: Tying a bowtie is already hard, but tying a teeny bowtie with huge, clawed, organic steel hands? *shivers*
3. Beast as Ben Franklin
I love Beast. If I'm at a Halloween party with the X-Men, Beast is who I want to hang out with, probably flirt with. It's the personality for me! But Beast as Ben Franklin, with that grin? I'm going to wait until November to make a move. Also, I have to point out that both Beast's and Ben Franklin's reputations took a sharp nosedive post-1996 (look up Sally Hemings and Krakoa, IYKYK).
2. Rogue as the Vampiress
Rogue, feel your oats, girl. But you're going to kill everyone if you hit the dance floor.
1. Professor X as the Wizard of X
When it comes to manipulation, Charles Francis Xavier makes the great and powerful Oz look like a middle schooler playing The Sims. Chuck has faked his own death so many times, he gets his next casket for free. So yeah — a killer mind with an even deadlier manicure? This is the stuff of nightmares.
Come knock on our door tomorrow for even more 31 Days of Heistoween treats.
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